美国国家公共电台 NPR--Twin brothers, who are morticians, look back on their lives of caring for the dead

Twin brothers, who are morticians, look back on their lives of caring for the dead

Transcript¹

Twin brothers, Melvin and Marvin Morgan, talk about their thoughts on death. They both have had long careers as morticians in New York City.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's Friday, which is when we hear from StoryCorps. And today we hear from Melvin and Marvin Morgan.

MARVIN MORGAN: Mama called Daddy and told him to find two names because he had two twin sons. On his way to the hospital, he saw Marvin and Melvin Funeral Home. He said, I got the two names.

MELVIN MORGAN: I remember that.

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Melvin and Marvin did end up becoming morticians themselves - not in a funeral home, but in morgues in New York City. At StoryCorps, they talked about the calling they share, practicing that calling amid the deaths of the pandemic years and a childhood discovery that led them to their work.

MARVIN MORGAN: So remember, we were down south and we went to go look for great-grandmom's grave?

MELVIN MORGAN: We were walking past the cemetery², and our cousin...

MARVIN MORGAN: He pointed³ out, and said, she's over there somewhere.

MELVIN MORGAN: Right, she over there somewhere. Down south, the African American's cemeteries⁴ separate from the Caucasian cemeteries. They were buried in unmarked graves - no headstone, no nothing.

MARVIN MORGAN: At that time we were 9. I was really disturbed by that. And I said that one day that we're going to see that people be buried right.

So your first day of the mortuary, what'd you do?

MELVIN MORGAN: It was a heck of a experience to see my comrades cutting up a body with ease and not being frightened, which I was in the beginning. But I knew I was moving into the right field because I knew that I had an important job to do.

MARVIN MORGAN: What was the hardest thing you ever seen?

MELVIN MORGAN: We was at the epicenter of this pandemic. You know, bodies coming from the elevator all the way down the corridor through the hallway to the morgue, lined up. It was hard, especially with the ones that, you know, you knew. And I had friends that died - coworkers, the people that work in the hospital. And they all of them went to the freezer. And I would go and play music for them and talk to them. Don't think I'm crazy, now.

MARVIN MORGAN: Some of these cases, you know, you take it home and it just sits with you. I would talk to you so I can get over it.

MELVIN MORGAN: And vice⁵ versa.

MARVIN MORGAN: Right.

MELVIN MORGAN: The same that you do with me. And I'm not afraid of death, but to be honest with you, if something happened to my twin brother, even though I do this job, I don't know if I'd be able to take it. That's why I want to go out first.

MARVIN MORGAN: (Laughter) You know, this young lady asked me the other day - she asked me about death. And she said, well, am I going to heaven? I said, I don't know.

MELVIN MORGAN: No one can tell you where you came from, no one can tell you why you're here and no one sure can't tell you where you're going.

MARVIN MORGAN: Yeah.

MELVIN MORGAN: And I just hope I go out the right way.

INSKEEP: Melvin and Marvin Morgan for StoryCorps in New York. Melvin is retiring this week from Elmhurst Hospital in Queens - one more news event to remember this week.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。